(I) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the oral care field, particularly to multi-filament floss devices with particular braided patterns.
(II) Description of Related Art
It is generally recognized in the dental profession that plaque, which remains on the teeth after brushing, is a major cause of tooth and gum problems. Only flossing is an effective process to remove the plaque. Without dental flossing, this plaque remains and provides a shelter for bacteria to continue metabolizing carbohydrates, excreting acid and thus attacking tooth enamel. Plaque build-ups not only lead to tooth decay and gum disease, but have been linked to other serious health problems as well.
Dental floss is a device that removes plaque and debris adhered to a person's teeth, restorations, fixed prostheses, pontics (artificial teeth), and around implants. In general, inter-proximal contact areas, whether natural or restored, have different configurations. Consequently, several types of floss devices are available to accommodate these differences. It is known that no floss on the market has received a degree of perfection that satisfies both dental professionals and consumers.
The majority of flosses currently known in the related art do not provide a sufficient quality of cleaning between teeth, mostly because they are smooth and flat. Conventional flosses do not have anchoring points which would permit an efficient pick-up and consequent removal of the food residues from the inter-proximal dental regions. Furthermore, due to the limitations in the surface topography of known flosses, there is little or no salutary massage to the gum surfaces surrounding the teeth. They provide only an inefficient means of transporting the dislodged particles from the surface which they contact with. Conventional flosses do not contact the concave surface of the radial contours of teeth in the pockets of gum dis-attachments.
Another disadvantage of the conventional dental flosses is that the gingiva is damaged due to forceful contact of the dental floss therewith. If the gingiva is in a diseased or unhealthy state, it often swells and bleeds easily, which discourages the continual use of flosses.
The conventional dental flosses are generally composed of relatively small diameter filaments woven together into single elongated strands. Most common commercial floss products are structured as a multifilament thread of different length. However, they tend to fray or split, do not have the capacity to show vividly the existence of the plaque between the teeth.
Numerous floss devices are presented in the related art. For example, there is known US Patent Application No. 2003/0154998 by Alexandre Petrocini Falleiros et. al. It refers to a texturized dental floss for interdental cleaning usually used for removing of the food debris. The floss is formed of a bundle of texturized filaments in which the filaments are unwound and then impregnated with additive composition. The texturized flosses have a higher contact surface with the inter-proximal surface of tooth and good capacity for removal of food residues. On the other hand, the texturized flosses are capable of shredding in the interproximal dental regions in which the floss may kink and bend. The texturized flosses and the floss of instant invention, also called ‘Magic Floss’ have completely different structures: the texturized flosses are uneven while the Magic Floss is knitted.
Another example is US Patent Application No. 2007/0144553A1 by Pamela Jill Habbard. It teaches a dental article comprising a primary strand of coated dental floss and accessory fiber of uncoated dental floss attached to the primary strand by overhand knots or other means is provided. The article provides effective cleaning of embrasures and stimulation of the gingival tissues, but its use is limited and too specific. This floss is targeted for cleaning of areas of embrasures. The Habbard's floss has specific structure and may not be employed by every consumer in everyday use.
A U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,948 teaches a bristle dental floss comprising a plurality of sub-fibers each having a plurality of bristles. Many small pieces thereof are tied to the long stands, and many of the same short pieces tied to the bristle ends. The sub-fibers, bristles, or both may be stiffened with wax; polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is commercially available under trademark Teflon®; nylon; or similar materials. The bristled dental floss has improved cleaning and massaging abilities for cleaning inter-proximal regions. Teflon® has a number of specific physical properties including great chemical and physical inertness that makes it very difficult to use the material in combination with other materials. Besides, Teflon® tends to break or rip quickly when it is stretched or pulled with pressure. Thus, Teflon® is difficult to employ in dental flossing. Bristles are attached by hitch-type knots. The aforementioned structure is complex and not easy to manufacture, which adversely affects the price and has made the invention unattractive to consumers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,377 is related to improved floss comprising a composite of multifilament yarn bonded to an extruded monofilament. Both elements are made of polymer compounds, preferably nylon. The multifilament yarns can be provided in looped embodiments as a bush element or in the form of one or more tails. In the aforementioned patent, only part of the floss performs the mopping function. The multifilament thread or yarn is extruded and bonded into a monofilament using electronic welding, or gluing, or adhering, or air splicing. The aforesaid composite structure envisages the monofilament strands twisted relatively to each other along a longitudinal direction. The monofilament strands are weakly twisted, can be easy separated from each other and under tension become almost flat and smooth. Such weak structure cannot hold medications tightly between the monofilament strands.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,226 includes abrasive surface of either rips or dimples. This is an attempt to solve the problem of providing sufficient cleaning and removing debris from the dental textures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,000 is a frilly dental floss formed of a thin wide ribbon with frilly edge or centrally located slits made of strong waxed polymer (HDPE). The taught floss has improved cleaning structure and may scoop and pull out any amount of material or plaque from within the gingival sulcus area and from the tooth surface.
There is known a texturized dental floss ‘Superfloss’ produced by Colgate/Palmolive Company used to clean large inter-dental spaces that have bridges and various dental prostheses. It has a greater diameter and is more effective in removing food debris. The larger diameter and the fibrous nature provide good cleaning action but in contact with saliva the floss quickly softens and loses its cleaning abilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,258 describes a relatively large diameter dental floss having a multitude of fibers overlain upon each other, in some cases extending beyond the main body of the floss. Although such a configuration provides an alternative to conventional flosses, this overlain floss could not clean the concave surface of the tooth. Furthermore, such approach provides little improvement over the conventional flosses.